Free My One And Only by MacKenzie Taylor Page B

wouldn't have thought twice about it except that I called Edna for an address on Tuesday, and when I asked to speak to you, she mentioned that you were on your way to Chicago. "
    "So you, naturally, decided to storm into my office today and demand answers you gave up the right to have."
    The barb hit its mark. She visibly flinched. Ethan felt a sting of guilt but didn't back down. "I was concerned," she said quietly. "I'm worried about you."
    "I'm doing fine without you," he said. "You don't need to concern yourself."
    She gave him a disgruntled look. "You could at least have the d ecency to appear a little devas tated."
    Ethan simply stared at her. She exhaled an exasperated sigh and slipped into the chair Jack had recently vacated. "Oh, for God's sake, Ethan, can't you take a joke anymore?"
    Not about this, he mused. Not since he'd been waiting two days to hear from Abby Lee and she'd steadfastly ignored him. "I believe my lack of a sense of humor was one of your reasons for ending our engagement. It came after 'temperamentally maladjusted' and 'emotionally detached.' "
    She waved a hand in the direction of the chair. "Would you please sit down? I'm getting a crick in my neck from looking up at you."
    He hesitated, but finally acquiesced. "I've got an incredibly busy schedule today," he told her. "If t his isn't something important… "
    "Was it ever important enough for you to disrupt your busy schedule?" she asked, and he didn't think he imagined the hint of sadness in her tone.
    "Pamela—"
    "Never mind," she said, and gave him a slight smile. "That's behind us." At his censorious look, she nodded. "Really, Ethan, it is. I'm just here because I want to talk to you about this Abigail Lee issue."
    "There is no issue—and if there were, I wouldn't be interested in discussing it."
    "Well, I am," she insisted. She regarded him closely. "Are you seriously involved with her?"
    "By your own count, I've seen her twice," he said evasively. "How serious can I be?"
    "Depends. For some people, that's enough time to be completely captivated."
    "I'm not like other people."
    She ignored that. "For you, two times is all you need to have made up your mind. Usually, only once. I'm betting that you decided what you wanted to do with her that day in your office and that's what had you running off to Chicago the day you got back from Prague."
    He wasn't sure if she was mocking him or not, so he said nothing. Pamela leaned forward and placed her hand on his knee. "I didn't come here to pick a fight with you," she said. "I just—actually, whether you believe it or not, I meant what I said. I really am worried about you."
    "I've been taking care of myself for a long time."
    "It's only been a couple weeks since we—"
    "Since you informed me," he interjected smoothly, "that I was emotionally incapable of meeting your needs."
    "You don't have to make it sound so harsh, Ethan. I was hurting at the time, you know."
    He accepted that at face value. At least she didn't appear bent on causing another scene. He'd chosen Pamela because she had all the credentials to be his partner in business and in life. She was an impeccable hostess; she had ambition and drive, and the intelligence to match. She was sophisticated and c harming, and other than the oc casional bout of dramatics, she wasn't prone to make him uncomfortable. Things hadn't gotten messy until she'd wanted an emotional commitment. "I'm sorry you were hurt," he said.
    She glanced toward the window. "But you don't think I had the right to be?"
    He didn't know what to say, so he waited. When she looked at him again, her eyes were clouded. "Did you ever feel anything for me at all?" she finally said.
    The question caught him off guard. "I care for you a great deal, Pam. You know that."
    "But you didn't love me." It wasn't a question, so he didn't answer it. Pamela shook her head. "Never mind. I can see I'm not going to get anything out of you today."
    "If I had time," he told her, "I'd take you